1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the field of wiring devices and particularly to an improved floor mounted receptacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various prior art adjustable floor receptacle devices are exemplified in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 754,414 issued Mar. 15, 1904 to Bossert; U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,574 issued Oct. 29, 1957 to Guerrero; U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,886 issued Mar. 18, 1969 to Myers; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,244 issued Feb. 29, 1976 to Cole. The use of intumescent material to provide a fire retardant barrier in connection with an underfloor access housing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,883 issued Feb. 11, 1975 to McMarlin. In each of the above devices, however, the electrical cables are brought into the device through a common opening and run together to the point of termination at the respective receptacles. Thus, in the event of fire or other condition which may cause an elevated temperature within the wiring device, none of the above mentioned devices provides protective isolation between the respective cables or, in the case of the adjustable floor receptacles, is there provided a fire retardant barrier designed to isolate the upper portion of the receptacle from the lower portion thereof in order to preserve the fire retardant properties of the concrete floor within which the device is located. Furthermore, with the increasing use of underfloor wiring of both power and communication cables which must be terminated in readily accessible floor outlets, there is a need for providing both electromagnetic and electrostatic shielding between such cables within the termination area to avoid unwanted or spurious crosstalk and signal transfer. This need is not provided by the prior art receptacles as exemplified by the aforementioned devices so that their use in such applications is severely limited.